Cream Cheese Walnut Cookies

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
6 ounces cream cheese (not whipped), room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups walnut halves (1 1/2 cups toasted and coarsely chopped, 1 cup finely chopped)

Whisk together flour and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
Put butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in sugar and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, and mix until just combined (do not overmix). Mix in toasted walnuts.
Transfer dough to a work surface. Divide in half; shape each half into an 8 ½ inch long log about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap each log in parchment paper; freeze until firm, about 30 minutes or up to 2 weeks.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. Unwrap 1 log, and roll in ½ cup chopped walnuts, coating completely. Cut into ¼ inch thick rounds. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake cookies, rotating halfway through, until golden around edges, 18-20 minutes. Let cool on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.
Makes 4 dozen

[Note: I used salted butter and omitted the salt. I also found that rolling each round in walnuts was easier than rolling the log, as the walnuts didn’t stick well to the log. I also got almost 6 dozen out of the recipe compared to the 4 dozen the recipe suggested.]

Submitted by Anne